A Roque and A Hard Place
by XxRocQstaRxX
Summary: Roque Harris is living her life with very little thought of her past. What happens when after years of never keeping in touch, her past decides to force its way back into her life? SEQUEL to Little Darlin'
1. Prelude

Pittsburgh, PA - Saturday, May 11, 2013

"Gimmie a double of Jack, and a single for your pretty little self there." The older man smiled down at the bartender working the main bar at Deuce's Wild, a crazy sort of place with all sorts of entertainment.

"Awe, Ernie, you're so sweet," the bartender smiled at him and poured the drinks the man ordered. She toasted him and took her own shot before moving down the line to take care of two college aged guys.

Roque Harris was 22 and did her best to take care of the rowdy crowd hanging out at Deuce's that night. Deuce's Wild had something for everyone. There were pool tables, and a dance floor; but the main attraction was the fighting. It had its own octagon that usually housed amateur MMA fights every Friday and Saturday night. But once a month the women got a chance to get in there and show the people what they had. Roque grinned. She was undefeated in the cage for the 11 months she'd been working against the women, although every month, a new woman came and tried her luck.

"When're you gonna fight again, Rocket?" one of the college guys asked.

"Next Saturday Jeremy. I hear this girl they've found is pretty good." She replied as she passed him another Iron City.

"When're you gonna let me take you to dinner, Roque my love?"

"Oh, Mitch, you flatterer, what would your wife say?" Roque flirted with the 65 year old man as she gave him the Whiskey sour he ordered and kept moving.

The night wrapped up and soon people were leaving, passing her generous tips and calling goodbye to her. Roque got everything cleaned up, totaled out the register behind the bar and headed up to the office to pass the cash off to the owner.

"Donnie, here's the cash from the bar," she called as she knocked.

In his early 50's Donovan "Deuce" Lennox was the epitome of a very strong man slightly gone soft. He had piercing blue eyes and short brown hair flecked with silver.

"Rocket my girl, how'd we do tonight?"

"Couple thousand, not bad considering the two guys that fought tonight were shitty." She replied, handing over the canvas envelope and the paper with the register's calculations on it.

"Shitty? You don't think that's a bit harsh?" he smirked. The girl had such an eye for fighters that he knew that she was right.

"No, Donnie. They were shitty. They wouldn't make it in a real fight against _me_, let alone a PRIDE or a UFC fighter. Their intensity and drive was crap, and they didn't even look like they could run around the cage 10 times let alone do a solid couple of miles."

Deuce let the girl finish her analysis as he checked the total on the register's report versus the amount of money in the envelope she'd given him.

"Get the hell out of here, Rocket. We'll see you next Friday, yeah?"

Roque nodded, collected her jacket and belongings from behind the bar, and left, waving goodbye to the bouncers who were still outside making sure there weren't any drunks acting like idiots nearby.

Roque walked for about 10 minutes until she came to her apartment building. It was a 4th floor walk-up with only one bedroom that she shared with two other people, but it was clean.

Both of her roommates were still awake and playing an old Playstation 2 they'd bought for $40 at the Exchange.

"Hey Rocket, how was work?" Damien had been there for Rion since the first day she'd wound up in Pittsburgh. He'd taught her how to be not just book smart, but street smart. Even though he was 6 years older than her, they had a weird on-again, off-again sort of relationship.

"It was alright, I did about 175 in tips," she replied as she headed back towards the bedroom. She pealed off the leather pants she'd worn to work as well as the child-sized Steelers jersey that stopped a bit below her breasts. Slipping on a pair of grey sweats and a clean sports bra she made her way back out to the living room.

"How'd you do tonight, Jesse?" Roque asked the blonde sitting beside Damien.

"I did a bachelor party tonight with only one other girl. I cleaned up pretty good," Jesse shrugged. Jesse was a 5'9 145 pound bombshell. She had an amazing figure, one that was obviously built for sin, and she made tons of money as a stripper. Jesse was between the ages of Roque and Damien, and she'd hooked up with them one night after Roque beat up some guy who was harassing her at Duce's where she moonlighted as a ring girl.

The three all spent a little time playing the game system before going to bed.

* * *

Roque woke up from her spot in the main bedroom where she was cuddled against Damien's back. She climbed over him and took a hot shower, washing the smell of alcohol and cigarettes out of her hair.

Roque stood in front of the mirror and inspected her body. She was tall, probably reaching about 5'9 just like Jesse, but her build was completely different. Roque was mainly muscle, with defined abs, muscular arms and legs and a round but firm behind. Her chest was about average, which suited her just fine; too much would get in the way of fighting. A silver hoop went through the right side of her bottom lip, and a bright red jewel sat in her navel. She dressed for the day in a pair of denim shorts that bared a lot of leg, and a dark grey tank top that showed off bits and pieces of the tattoos she'd collected over the years.

She had a Heart with a sword through it on her right thigh. A shake was wrapped around the sword in an exact replica of a tattoo belonging to someone very dear to her. She also had a trail of interlocking stars in many sizes starting from where her bra would end all the way down to where her panties usually started. But the crown jewel of her tattoos was on her back. She had a massive pair of angel's wings done on her back to cover up the scars there. They'd taken over 5 different 4 hour sessions to complete and a shit load of pain on her part. But they looked sick when she wore a bikini.

Roque weaved her dark red hair into a plait before grabbing her bus pass, backpack and cell phone and leaving the apartment. It was Sunday afternoon, and she had a lot of working out to do, especially with a fight in just 6 days.

A 20 minute bus ride and 4 minute walk found her at the YMCA where she got changed in a pair of biker shorts and a sports bra. She hit the weights and did massive cardio while her mp3 player pounded music in her ears. She was a little over halfway through her 6 mile run when she noticed a dark haired man wave at her from across the cardio area. She gave him a crooked grin and held up two fingers, signaling how many more miles she had left. She laughed when she read his lips.

_"You have 10 minutes."_

Roque gave him the finger and then upped the speed for the last couple of miles she had left. When she was finished she grabbed her orange Gatorade and followed him to another area of the facilities that held punching bags and other equipment.

"Took you long enough, Rocket." He teased as he greeted her with a friendly squeeze.

"I only took 7 Potter, so fuck off." She laughed.

Benjamin Logan was 6'4, 265 pounds of long, lean muscle. He had piercing green eyes, bright, and jewel toned. His black hair stuck up in every which direction, and if you asked Roque, all he was missing was a pair of round glasses and a lightening bolt scar, hence his nickname. He was her favorite trainer at the Y.

"You fighting next week, babe?" he asked as she pulled off her shoes and socks and pulled on ankle guards.

"In exactly 6 days. And I want a knockout in the first round."

"You could pull it off if anyone could," he laughed at her as they got in a boxing ring, the Y didn't exactly have a cage. "We're gonna work on your grappling today. You can strike with the best of them, obviously; but that's because you were a boxer first. You have to know how to work on the floor better if you wanna be a well-rounded fighter. "

Roque grumbled under her breath good naturedly before locking up with the larger man.

After well over an hour of working with Ben, Roque found herself in the women's locker room changing into her favorite bikini after a quick rinse in the showers. She thought that the black top covered in multi colored splatters and matching bottoms set her tattoos and tanned skin off perfectly. After diving right in, and swimming a quick 10 or so laps, she felt like she'd cooled down enough. She loved swimming after a hard workout; it stretched out all of her muscles, and let her do it in a low-impact way. After a quick wash and shampoo with special stuff for her color-treated hair, she re-dressed and headed for home.

She got home around 7 or so, and smiled when Jesse had dinner going. Home made Steak Hoagies sounded perfect after a workout like she'd just had. The girls finished up dinner together just as Damien came in from the store. Damien and Roque both had work the next day, so they didn't stay up too late.

* * *

Roque worked for a local promoter named Jerry who did his best to bring great concerts to the city. He had contacts everywhere and Roque's – along with 3 other people's, main job was keeping him organized. Jerry organized concerts for all genres of music, and also did great parties some weekends at local clubs as well as after parties for promotions he'd brought in.

"Miss Harris, aren't you looking lovely this morning," Dave, one of her co-workers grinned at her. Roque laughed at him before looking down at her attire; Black knee shorts, a Beatles t-shirt and flip flops. Her hair was in a high ponytail.

"Dave, I look like my outfit came from Wal-Mart…actually, this outfit DID come from Wal-Mart."

"Anyway, we have 4 different shows lined up, and you are in charge of keeping this one organized." Dave handed her a portfolio.

"Wiz Khalifa is coming back home. This is a huge party. I mean huge. And it's in 2 months. How am I gonna pull this one off alone?"

"Well, Parker's on this one with you."

"So we have to keep Wiz's flight in check, his Hotel, the opening Act…some group from Texas somewhere, doesn't say, and all of their travel info, and on top of that, we have to make sure that the backstage is taken care of, and that the After Party is well organized."

"This is gonna be on a Saturday isn't it?" Roque groaned.

"Yup."

"I'm gonna miss a day at Duece's." she whined, she loved her second job at the bar.

"And you better make sure if you fight that month it's after this event. You can't do your job with a black eye, Roque" A voice interrupted from behind them.

Jerry Wilkinson was a young-ish guy of unknown ethnicity. He was clearly mixed with…_something_and something else. His skin was a light as Roque's, and his eyes a shocking grey, but his hair kind of reminded Roque of that kid from the Holes movie she'd seen as a kid. He was in his early 30s with a sort of…douche-bag air about him.

Roque rolled her eyes at the older man before picking up the phone. She made calls to both talents' agents, booking the planes and hotels. After that, she made sure of any ridiculous requests that the artists made would be taken care of by Parker, the other girl on the project. After that, she set about looking through Jerry's contacts to find a perfect spot for the concert's official After Party.

It was pretty dull work, but it paid the bills, and kept her from having a job like Jesse. She left work around 4:30 and headed towards the bus stop to get home, a pretty long journey considering she had to go from a semi-nice, quiet neighborhood on one side of town and catch two busses to get downtown to connect to the bus that would take her to her own rather shabby neighborhood.

But that was what she loved about Pittsburgh. The city was small, but still big enough to get lost in. There were so many kinds of neighborhoods filled with so many kinds of people. She'd had a couple of minor incidents over the years but nothing that made her consider leaving and choosing another city. It was a great city that had done her a lot of good over the last 2 years.

When she got home and changed into sweats, she found Damien on the couch drinking a beer.

"Hey how was work?"

"Not bad, Jerry put me and Parker in charge of Wiz Khalifa's homecoming concert; which means I'm gonna get to baby sit a stoned rapper and all of his stupid friends for a day. Parker will do the other night. What about you," she asked as she climbed into his lap, her head resting on his collar bone. "How was your day?"

Damien worked part time as a line cook at a hotel downtown. He spent the other half of his day as a security guard at Macy's.

"Hot and busy, and then quiet and boring, like always," he replied adjusting her body so that he could still see the tv and drink his beer. "Hey babe?"

"Hmm?" her eyes never left the episode of 2 Broke girls that he was watching.

"You okay, living like this, I mean? I mean, yeah we're a lot better than we were when we met 2 years ago, but don't you think you deserve better than this? Don't you wanna go to college or something?"

"You trying to get rid of me, D?" she asked with a wry smile.

"Not at all, I really dig you, you know that. I was just thinking, you're barely 22, and you had to grow up quick. " he shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to give you a chance that I never did."

"Damien, I got my GED because of you, remember? I couldn't get anything better than a burger gig before that. I got this job working for Jerry because of that."

"Well that and the old pervert wants to get in your pants."

"No, it's that, and I can type, I know how to talk to people, and I can usually get what I want, Idiot." She punched him in the arm at the last word.

"Is that so, so what do you want right now?"

"That's easy." She grinned teasingly. "A cold beer." She stood up and grabbed a bottle of Rolling Rock out of the fridge before joining him on the couch again.

The pair were tight. A year ago, before Jesse'd showed up, there'd been Angel, a tough guy from Philly who was just passing through. And before him, there was Tanner.

Tanner'd been with Damien before Roque had even showed up. But she'd gotten into trouble.

On a routine shoplifting job (once Roque's original money had run out, they'd gone through a tough spot) at a grocery store, Tanner, who already thought that she could get away with murder, got sloppy. She got cocky, got stupid. She took an unnecessary risk, and she'd gotten caught trying to steal a doughnut from the "help yourself" section of the bakery. Security found everything else she'd been stashing in her backpack, and called the police. She'd been sent to Juvie, and Roque barely got away without being seen.

Jesse came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt with the pepsi symbol on it. Her hair was elaborately curled, her make-up done to perfection. The see-through platform heels gave it away to where she was headed.

"Have a good night at work, Jess," Damien grunted from where he and Roque were cuddled on the couch watching an old dvd. Jesse grabbed a small duffel and blew a kiss to the pair, leaving the apartment to head for the club she danced at.

Cuddling into the warmth of Damien's chest, Roque took another sip of her beer.

"Hey D?"

"Yeah?"

"You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah, I know," he chuckled warmly, pressing a kiss into her hair. "I love you too, kid."

Little did Roque know, things in her world were going to change.

Very soon.

**AS/N: So, at this moment, Rion is 17, posing as a 22 year old working 2 jobs, one she really likes at a bar, and the other, as a promoter's assistant getting bands and rappers to come perform in Pittsburgh, and planning the stripper-filled after parties.**

**I want you guys to keep in mind that this fic will be a lot different, and a little dark. Roque is not Rion. Well, she is, but Roque is the embodiment of everything Rion wanted to be when she was held captive; Strong, smart, cunning, able to take care of herself, and a fighter. She hasn't had anyone to guide or raise her since she was 14 years old, (remember, she had her 15****th**** birthday while held by her father) and before that, only 3 years of proper guidance. So theoretically, she's raised herself.**

**She may not be completely out of control, but this fic will have a teenager drinking, cursing, having sex, and even referencing to experimenting with drugs. She's still very much a child in need of a family.**

**Next chapter will be up just after New Year, so Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and Happy Kwanza. I don't think I missed anything, but either way, have a safe and wonderful holiday!**

**Nique**


	2. The Past Catches Up With Her

"Are you sure about this, Roque?" the woman stood behind her, green eyes locking with Roque's own brown in the mirror. "Once you do this, you can't change your mind. There's no going back."

Roque took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm sure Carrie."

Carrie lifted the scissors up to the rubber band holding Roque's hair together, and with one snip, Roque's hair went from waist length, to flowing around her arms. Over a foot of hair was gone, her security blanket was ripped away from her.

After an hour of cutting, re-dying, washing and styling, the shortest pieces of her hair sat just below her ears, the longest bit grazing her bra strap. The firey auburn color was hi-lighted, and refreshed.

She felt like a million bucks.

"Carrie, you're a genius."

"I've wanted to do that to you since you first came here." She laughed.

"I'll see you next month, girl." Roque stood up, paying the stylist and leaving with a hug. "You'll be at my fight on Friday, right?"

"I'll be there, Benny is dragging me down there," woman shrugged.

"Your brother is my favorite trainer. Just humor him from time to time, maybe find him a boyfriend."

"As if he needs help picking up guys," she snickered, fluffing her own black and platinum blonde mixed tresses.

Roque slid a pair of Ray-Bans on her face and exited the salon, walking out into the sunlight.

* * *

Friday Night, and Roque was back at Deuce's. All of her regulars were there, Old Mitch, and Jeremey, Paul and Donnie, the collage aged guys who all loved to hit on her. She wasn't doing any work though, she was just killing time; she had a fight soon, and everyone in there knew it. She was dressed in only a sports bra and a pair of what looked like running shorts. Both were a deep red outlined in black. Her red hair was braided down her spine, and her lip ring was no where to be seen, nor was her belly jewelry. She had a pair of flip flops on her feet, and a small duffle was in her hands.

On her right, Damien was sipping a beer, and Jesse was on her left wearing a tiny plaid skirt, a black leather bra-like top, and knee high leather boots, her hair was curly and perfect as usual. She was only there to hold up the "Round 1" signs.

Roque was drinking an orange Gatorade. A large group of people were already sitting in the bleachers around the cage, others were standing right against the fence surrounding the octagon. At 9:45, Roque excused herself from the table, accepting good luck kisses (from Damien) and hugs(from Jesse) and heading to the bathroom to pull on her gloves, ankle guards and stretch out a little more. 25 minutes later, she heard Deuce's voice on the PA system.

"ARE YOU GUYS READY FOR SOME FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTING?" he yelled to the amped crowd. As they roared in approval, Ozzy Osborne's "Crazy Train" began to play. "Introducing first, the Challenger, standing at 5 feet 8 inches, and weighing in at…well, a gentleman never tells, from Beaver Falls, PA, the lovely Ashley Tate!"

The brown haired girl that entered the cage looked tough, confident, and was the first person who looked like she could pose a threat to their heroine. As they clapped for her, the music faded out, and suddenly, "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns n Roses was blaring through the speakers. "And our champion, going for a perfect year of 12 and 0 tonight! She stands at a beautiful 5 feet and 9 inches! She is undefeated in our cage! And even though we have no idea where she's really from, she calls THIS HER HOME! So fighting out of Pittsburgh, PA! The Steel City Rocket! ROQUE HARRIS!"

The crowd went wild. Roque strolled into the ring as if she owned the place, and she did. Throwing a couple of _damn fast_ punches just to play up the crowd, Roque looked unstoppable. She walked up to her opponent, her brown eyes hard, a cocky smirk on her face, simply nodding and smirking.

"Game on," she stated, channeling a certain piece of her past. A blonde, powerful blue eyed godfather type of piece from her past.

Jesse walked the perimeter of the cage, holding her sign to the whistles and cat calls of the crowd. As soon as the door closed, the bell rung.

Roque listened to a couple of voices in her head as she fought; all of them giving her encouragement, advice, and even chastisement. She heard a male's voice correcting her grip as she went for an armbar. She heard a different male's voice as she went for a 5 punch combo. A female voice warned her to keep an eye out for tells of what was coming from her opponent. The mental coaching only stopped at the bell.

"Not bad, Rocket."

"So, what should I do next, Potter?" she asked looking up into Ben's green eyes.

"Stick with your bread and butter. She's all arms and legs, obviously a grappler. She can't handle a striker like you," he advised as she sipped a bit of water and toweled off.

"So just go for the classic finish?"

"Overhand right knockout sounds like a plan to me, babe." He grinned and winked at her. She put her mouthpiece back in and turned back around for the start of Round 2 as Jesse exited again.

A fully kickboxing approach in round 2. It completely threw the Brown haired girl for a loop. She couldn't get in to execute any of her moves. She did her best to block and counter the kicks and punches sent her way. The three minutes almost went by too fast to Roque.

Rounds 3 and 4 were a clinic. Roque knew she could beat this girl, and in Round 5, it happened. A 5 punch combo to the face and torso followed by a roundhouse kick that Chuck Norris himself would be proud of.

She went down like a sack of bricks, and she stayed there.

10 seconds later, her perfect year was confirmed. Damien was the first person inside to congratulate her. He spun her in a circle before lifting her up on his shoulders. She felt such a rush hearing the entire bar yelling out her nickname.

_Rocket, Rocket, Rocket_

When she was finally set down (Deuce gave everyone a drink on the house to celebrate his bartender's win) Roque got to go towel down and change. 15 minutes later she returned wearing a black tank top that showed off her entire torso, and a pair of jeans that were ripped and frayed. They probably would have fallen off if it weren't for the rainbow colored studded belt she was wearing. Her hair was free and falling in firey waves. Flip flops and her jewelry were the finishing touches. Her nose had been bloodied, and her ribs were slowly blackening (lucky on the opposite side of her tattoo), but other than that, she was fine.

"Great fight Rocket!"

"You sure kicked her ass Roque!"

"Damn Darlin', I thought boxing was it for you,"

The third comment was in a very familiar voice; one that she used to motivate herself while she fought. One that had an accent as southern as her own when she first got to the city. Roque turned around slowly, begging that she was wrong; but she wasn't.

"What're you doing here?"

"The better question is, what the hell are you doing here, Rion Paige?" The green-grey eyes of Andy Calloway flashed angrily, her arms crossed over her chest.

* * *

Andrea Calloway-Cena sat in the bleachers of Deuce's Wild drinking a beer. After an appearance and autograph signing with a re-signed Ken Anderson, she'd started looking around for something to do for the night before she got on her plane the next morning to join her husband and daughter at home. Fliers on multiple telephone poles and taped to bus stops advertised Women's MMA fighting at a bar near her hotel, so after heading back, showering, talking to her husband for a bit and slipping into a pair of cargos and a tank top, she headed out.

The place was great. They had darts, pool tables, a dance floor, and beer. It was pumping Skynnard through the speakers, her dad would love this place. A man walked through the cage door and started to get everyone hyped for the fight.

The first girl, a brown haired girl was standing in the ring as 'Crazy Train' pumped through the speaker system of the rowdy club. The girl looked tough, but anyone could _look_ like they could fight. As 'Welcome to the Jungle' began to play though, the entire room became electric. She could have been in an arena for a pay per view it was so exciting. A red headed woman _stalked_ into the caged, head high, throwing a very familiar 5 punch combo. A closer, deeper look at her face made Andy's heart skip a beat.

It was Rion.

She watched as the woman – no, _girl_, she was only 17 at the most, stared down at the other fighter. Paul would have been so fucking proud of her right there. The ring rat left the cage, the door was locked, and the bell sounded.

_Damn Darlin, _she thought. The 5 round fight ended in a knock out. Rion was so good. She was powerful, poised, and damn strong. She was floored at the amount of confidence the girl seemed to have. She was immediately hugged and kissed by a tall, strong looking guy with brown hair that fell into his eyes.

The owner of the bar ordered a round for everyone in the bar, and Andy happily grabbed another Corona with lime. As she finished the drink, Rion appeared again, dressed in street clothes. As everyone was shouting their congratulations to her, Andy got in position directly behind her before speaking.

"Damn Darlin', I thought boxing was it for you."

She turned around slowly, almost not believing she was there.

"What are you doing here?"

Andy snapped, returning the same question at the girl, in a much harsher tone.

_Roque's POV_

Grabbing Andy's hand, she pulled her behind the bar in into Deuce's office, knowing the owner wouldn't mind.

"We've been looking everywhere for you Rion! Uncle Mike is worried sick, your Ma…Cam and Gracie, and all of us have been freaking out about you! And don't even get me started on John! Ri, you _promised_ him you'd keep in touch! It's been 2 years since we heard from you!"

"Andy, please! I know what I did was wrong, but at first, I just needed time to get settled in here, then I got work, and started training again, and fell into the MMA thing. And the next think I knew, a year went by, and I figured ya'll had forgot about me."

"How could we forget you, Darlin'?" she asked, finally doing what she'd wanted to do since she saw the girl walk into the ring. She pulled her into a tight hug. Roque hugged back just as hard. "We missed you so much, we always wanted to find you. We've been trying so hard."

"I'm sorry Andy, I'm so fuckin sorry. I had to protect you guys, I couldn't let them find me. He was gonna kill everyone, and start with Gracie and Cam. I couldn't risk it."

Listening to her her reasoning, all Andy could do was laugh a little. She was so hard headed.

"Oh Darlin, you are so damn stubborn."

"Uncle Mark used to say the same thing about you all the time."

"Speaking of which, are you just _trying_ to be me right now?" she teased, tugging on a strand of her red hair.

"Hey, I resent that!"

"No, you resemble that!"

Andy gave her the finger jokingly, causing Roque to notice a very large ring on a very important finger.

"Andy, did you and John get Married?"

"June of 2012. We eloped in Vegas. We thought it would be too difficult trying to find somewhere to get married considering my whole family is in Texas and his Massachusetts. It wouldn't be fair to do a big wedding in one of those places, so we decided that we'd do it our way and just announced it at 4th of July."

"Uncle Mark was pissed wasn't he?"

"Yeah, he was, but he got over it soon enough."

"He never could stay mad at you for too long," Roque smirked.

"I can't help it if I was the favorite!" Andy joked, sending the two of them into a fit of giggles.

The two laughed together for a moment before they looked at each other. "Come back to the hotel with me," Andy said finally.

"Andy, I – "

"I'm not going to try to take you away from all of this, from what I can see, you've set yourself up a pretty good deal. I leave in the morning; I just want to be able to tell everyone that I know you're okay."

Roque sighed before pulling out her phone, sending a quick text to her boyfriend.

_D, don't wait up for me tonight, I'll be home in the morning. Ran into someone I used to know. Love ya._

"Okay, let's go."

Roque left the office, leading Andy down the hall, around the bar and back out into the club. Andy took the lead and soon, they were in front of a Holiday Inn. Andy led the girl into the hotel, and up to the 8th floor.

Andy passed the girl a bottle of Heinekin from her fridge. (She wasn't naive enough to think that the girl had been on her own for almost 3 years and never tried beer.)

"So what's up, Kid?" she asked finally after they'd sipped their beers and gotten comfortable on loungers on the balcony.

"What do you wanna know?"

"Why did you not come straight home when you ran?"

"I didn't know if my blood father had people watching the house still. He'd show me random pictures from time to time of Cam, and Qua, and Gracie, and even of Dad at the Airport. I couldn't risk it. I didn't know how to be there and know they would be safe. So I jumped a bus to New York, and got of in a city that felt right."

Roque took a long pull of the beer in her hand. "When I got here I was so terrified. I almost got robbed the first day here by two people. But I beat the crap out of one, and the other was so impressed that they took me in. Tanner and Damien taught me how to be resorseful, how to do whatever needed to be done to survive be it shoplifting, stealing food, selling stolen clothes or whatever. Eventually, once I lied about my age and got fake ID, I got a job at McDonalds. I hated it. So, D talked me into going to the community college and getting my GED. Once I did that, I could get semi-decent jobs, and we didn't have to steal anymore. Then I got another job part-time at Deuce's, and started hanging out there every weekend. That's how I hooked up with Ben. He started training me, and soon, I was in the cage kicking ass. "

"You glossed over a lot there, Ri –"

"I' m not Rion anymore, Andy. Rion died in a fire in San Angelo, Texas. Roque got out of there, Roque's survived on her own, Roque can handle herself way more than Rion ever could. I'm not that little girl anymore."

"Well what do you want me to call you?"

"Well, everyone who knows me well, calls me Rocket. Just go with that. I answer to it easily. "

Andy sighed. "Look Rocket, I'm glad you're alive, and ok. I just don't understand why you never got in contact with anyone."

"I tried once. Just one time."

"When?"

"Last December, WWE was in Pittsburgh. Damien got me tickets for my birthday. "

"I remember, that was the show John got injured."

"I tried to sneak backstage after he got hurt. Security kicked me out of the arena. So I tried to go to the hospital that they took him to, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I tried 3 different hospitals. I figured it just wasn't meant for me to talk to him. How is his knee, by the way?"

"He's…alright. He's getting around pretty decently with crutches and a heavy duty brace. He's rehabbing like crazy too. The only thing he hates is that he can't drive. If it wasn't for Kenny he'd be completely depressed."

"Wait, who's Kenny?"

"Kid, how long has it been since I was on Raw? When did my "injury" happen?"

"In like, August last year."

"Ri…Rocket, John and I had a baby. A little girl named McKenna. McKenna Paige Christina Cena. She was born 3 weeks before John's birthday. She's almost 2 months old."

Roque's jaw dropped. She squealed excitedly and hugged the older woman. "Congratulations! Oh my God, who does she look like? What color is her hair? Her eyes? How much did she weigh? When's her birthday?"

"Slow down, Trouble. McKenna was born on April 6, 2013 at 3:20 in the afternoon. She was 7 pounds 9 ounces and 23 inches long." Andy smiled, pulling out her cell phone. She flicked her thumb a couple of times before handing the younger girl the phone.

The baby had bright red curly hair from her mother, and had her father's ice blue eyes. Roque could see Andy's nose, and a tiny dimple on the baby's cheek that was clearly John.

"Andy she's Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I'm so happy for you, for all three of you. "

"I'm on Maternity leave until July 15, the day after Money in the Bank. They want me back in time for the build up to Summerslam. Now I'm working off the baby weight, and getting back in shape for my Title Match.

"You're gonna do great, Andy. Looks like you lost most of your baby weight already, anyway." Roque vaguely motioned to the older woman's torso.

"I got some toning to do, and I'm got a lot of strength and endurance training left until I'm back in ring shape. " she shrugged finishing off her beer.

"So, how's Daddy, and everyone else?" she asked finally.

"Your dad is doing a lot better. The first year you were gone was tough. Cam started acting out, getting into fights, but he's calmed down now. He took up guitar about a year and a half ago. Now he's drawing, painting, playing guitar, a regular artist. Your Ma's good too; Gracie is getting so big. She's walking and talking now. Wants to be a ballerina. Chaos is a freshman at Texas. He's there on a football scholarship. I think Daddy was more excited at him being a Longhorn than Chris was."

"I knew Christian was good, but I didn't think he'd get a Scholarship to a Division I school. I'm proud of him."

"Yeah, we all were. He was surprised when that recruiter came up to him after his homecoming game. He had offers from a couple of Division I schools; Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, University of Miami, and University of Pittsburgh all wanted him."

"Kinda would have been cool if he came to Pitt. I go to parties down there a lot. I miss Chaos," she smiled sadly. "I miss all of you guys, really."

"Kid, you could come home whenever you wanted to."

Roque sipped her beer and sat back in thought.

The two women talked long into the night, and when the sun rose, Roque hugged her sister and headed home. She had a lot on her mind, and was really glad it was Saturday; she could sleep in; and she only had to go back to Deuce's that evening.

Once she made it back to her apartment, she found Jess asleep on the couch. It was barely 7 am, so Roque honestly wasn't surprised. She'd obviously hooked up with some guy, her neck was covered in bites and hickeys. After taking a quick shower and pulling on clean panties and one of Damien's t shirts, she climbed into bed with him, burrowing into his side. He barely woke up long enough to pull her against him and kiss her hair.

"Everything good?" he mumbled.

"Mhmm. Go back to sleep, D. It's only 7:20."

With that, everyone in the apartment was asleep.

* * *

It'd been exactly 4 days, 6 hours and 13 minutes since Andy's plane took off, and Roque was sitting in her apartment alone, staring at a number in her cell phone.

She had her father's cell phone number. She was so terrified to tap the "call" button. What if he didn't want her anymore? What if he wanted her to give up her life here? She wasn't quite sure which one was worse.

Summoning all of her courage, Roque tapped the icon on her phone.

It rang once.

It rang twice.

It rang three times.

"Hello?"

Roque froze. After hearing his voice, she had no clue what to say.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"D-daddy?"

There was a long pause. A very long pause. "Darlin'? Baby Girl is that you?"

"Yeah, I uh, I bumped into Andy. She gave me your new number."

"Rion Paige, where are you? Are you safe? Are you alone? What's –"

"Daddy, calm down. I'm fine. I'm living safely, I got my GED, I'm working, I'm fine, I promise. I miss you though." She added.

"Baby, do you want me to come and get you? Do you want to come home?"

_That's the Million Dollar question ain't it?_ She thought to herself.

"Daddy. I'm fine. I'm going to see if I can take some time off of work and come home soon. But, I found somewhere where I can keep you guys safe from my biological dad. I know he paid his lawyers and the judges off and got cleared of the kidnapping charges. I love you guys too much to keep putting you four in danger."

"It's not your job to protect us, it's my job to protect you, Darlin'." He replied sternly.

"I'm sorry daddy. I have to do what I think is right. Kiss mama, Cam and Gracie for me. You have my number now. I'll call you later on this week. I love you."

And with that, Rion – no, _Roque_ hung up the phone.


	3. The Rug Gets Pulled From Under Her

June passed uneventfully, if you discounted that Roque now called down to Texas twice a week now. She was slowly mending fences with her parents, and she and Cam talked often, texting for hours on end constantly.

Roque was finally at peace, definitely not as angry, but she was really anxious. She'd gone through an entire pack of cigarettes in less than 4 days, something that usually took almost 2 weeks. Every conversation had Michael asking her when she was coming home.

She honestly wasn't sure if she wanted to. Going home to Texas and being daddy's little girl would be so simple. Almost too simple. She sighed and lit a cigarette. Gracie's 2nd birthday was in a matter of 2 weeks, the 4th of July. With the Wiz Khalifa concert being taken care of next weekend, she could definitely get down to San Antonio in time for it.

So yes, she _could_ go home again, but she was so afraid that the sick son of a bitch that kidnapped her would somehow find her again. She didn't want her family in danger.

Roque stood up, flicked her butt onto the ground of the alley and slipped back through the side door of Deuce's to finish her shift.

The place was really wild that night. The guys fighting weren't half bad. Roque would have even been generous enough to call them pretty decent. The night ended routinely, with her closing down the register and taking all of the cash up to Deuce in his office.

"Here's the cash from the bar tonight."

"Rocket my girl, what's up with you? You weren't yourself tonight. You've been distracted the last couple of weeks."

"I just got a lot going on right now, Deuce. I'm good though," she brushed his concerns off with a sort of grin.

"Sit down, Kid." He said after looking at her hard for a minute. With a sigh, the young woman perched herself on the corner of his desk.

"Look, I'm not trying to butt into your life, but the last month you've been different. You're not smiling as much, you've been late twice, and you're always early for your shifts. You're worrying me kid. What's going on?"

"Well, the thing is, You know I ran away from home a couple of years ago, right?"

"Well, yeah, you told us you skipped town as soon as you turned 18 because your dad was beating up on you."

"Well, that's partially the truth. See, I'd been with a foster family from the time I was 11 until I turned 14. And my dad snatched me off of the street and brought me back to his house. And I ran after that. And well, I ran into a member of my foster family a couple of weeks ago, and I've been thinking about going back home, I miss them a lot. Going back and being who I was would be easy. I mean, I don't know who I am anymore. I was so sure I was happy here just being Roque, but such a huge part of me is questioning everything I thought made me happy."

"What's your real name kid?"

"Huh?"

"I've been around the block a few times, kid. You can't expect me to believe that 'Roque' is your real name. I knew it was fake the second you said it to me. So humor me. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"My real name, you know, after spending the last almost 3 years trying to forget everything, this will be the first time I'm saying this to anyone. My real name is Rion. Rion Hickenbottom."

Deuce stared at her for a minute. The name clicked in the back of his mind after a while. "San Antonio, Texas, about 3 years ago. You had brown hair. You were only 14 at the time." He stopped dead and gave her a hard look. "Which means you're only 18 now!"

"Actually, I won't technically be 18 until November. I'm 17."

"You mean to tell me that you're a 17 year old girl? If anyone ever found out –"

"How would anyone find out unless you told them? I have everyone in this city that I associate with believing that I'll be 23 in November. I never told anyone my real name, and I never even told Damien the truth. "

"I could lose my bar kid."

"Not if you keep your mouth shut. I'm not gonna tell on myself!"

The man ran a hand through his short hair. "You're just a kid, a baby. You _should_ get back to that foster family of yours. If I was your old man, I'd be out of my mind with worry."

"I do miss them," she replied, twisting a strand of her hair around her finger, wishing it was longer so that she could hide in it like she used to.

"I'm sorry baby doll, but after tomorrow night, you're fired. You need to go home, and this job will not be the excuse that you use to stay. You'll always be welcome here, and anytime you want you can come mix it up in our cage. We're gonna miss you around here, Rocket."

Roque let out a sigh and let the older man pull her into a tight hug. Deuce had been the closest thing to a father figure she'd had here, and deep down, she knew he was doing this to her out of love. she let him hug her just a little bit longer before she pulled away.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

With that done, she turned away and walked out of the office. As she stood behind the bar that she loved so much, she allowed herself a couple of seconds of sadness before reaching for her drawstring back pack and a bottle of orange Gatorade. There was a guy standing out front talking to Larry and Kieran, the bouncers. HE was just as big as they were. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a black tee shirt. His blonde hair was pulled back in a pony tail, and he had a baseball cap on backwards. Roque froze.

She knew exactly who that man was.

She knew that nose any where.

As she opened the door, he turned to face her with an unreadable expression.

But, as she stared into the cerulean blue eyes of The Game, she'd never felt safer.

"You're a surprisingly hard person to find, Kid." He said, looking down at her.

"Andy?"

"Of course. Come on, we've got some talking to do." He left no room for arguments or negotiations. He led her to a gunmetal grey Dodge Charger that was sitting right at the corner. She obediently got into the car and let him drive her to the hotel he was staying at. She was silent all the way up to the room he reserved, unsurprisingly a double bed.

"You look good Kid," he finally spoke. "I mean, you look like a coloring book, but still," he added with a grin.

"Uncle Paul, what're you –"

"You're out of your mind if you thought I was gonna keep away once I figured out where you were. You may not be my kid, but I still care about you, Rion."

The girl looked up into his eyes, remembering all of the times that he'd snuck her out of school to work out, how he'd personally flew from Connecticut out to San Antonio to help her get her weight training under way when she'd first started lifting. This man had been instrumental in helping her develop any semblance of self-esteem. He was the perfect uncle in her eyes. So when she spoke, there was never even a chance of her telling him anything other than the complete truth.

"Uncle Paul, I just didn't know what to do. I ran to protect everyone. I turned my outside into what I felt my inside looked like after I started to take care of myself. I thought I was happy being here until I saw Andy and she gave me Daddy's cell number. I wanna go home, but it's just too damn scary. I can't go back there and think it would be like it was before. I already finished school with my GED. I could get a job or something, but do you honestly think that Daddy is gonna want me out of his sight at all when I go back?"

Paul pulled the confused girl – _no_, young woman into his lap and let her burry her face into his neck just like he used to when she was still a kid. He kept quiet letting her get out all of her fears, her insecurities that Michael wouldn't love her anymore (which was complete horse shit) and her anxiousness over her biological father figuring out where she was, or that she'd gone home.

Paul sighed and hugged her tighter. His initial plan was to show up, and drag her stubborn ass home with no discussion. But he'd watched her at the bar the entire night. He'd seen her interact with the rowdy crowd of mainly men. She'd broken up a fight before the huge bouncers could even make It from he door. She'd laid one of the men out with one of her beautiful overhand rights, and all any of the patrons had done was pat her on the back and warn the guy on the ground that he was out of his mind if he thought he was gonna do anything to 'their Rocket' in retaliation.

She was so sure of herself now, something he was both proud of an sad about. A small part of him enjoyed molding the girl in his arms into the hard-headed self-assured, shit talking, loud mouthed teenager she'd been on her way to being. But this slightly cocky, tough, ballsy young woman didn't need someone to hold her while she licked her wounds from being bullied at school. This young woman didn't need her Uncle Paul to tell her that she was pretty while she hid behind her curtain of hair.

This girl was wearing nothing but a pair of leather looking leggings and a white tank top that stopped an inch above her _pierced_ navel with the word "Rocket" stamped on it right above the Pittsburgh Steelers logo.

This girl wasn't the awkward girl who was uncomfortable with her body. This girl….was almost a _woman_.

After talking for most of the evening, and finally falling asleep around 5 am, it was decided the Roque would head back to Texas with Paul when he headed there for Gracie's 2nd birthday.

The next morning, he drove her home, accepting her offer of going with her for a work out before he left her that evening to get back home to his own girls. He followed her up to her third story walk up noticing a gross stench in the air. It smelled sort of like burning plastic, but…not. He noticed Roque's face morph into one of pure fury. She stormed over to a door marked 3G and opened it quickly.

"DAMIEN! YOU FUCKING JUNKIE!" she yelled as she stormed through the apartment. He caught sight of a dark haired man lying on a bed, a blonde head giving him what looked like the mother of all blow jobs. He was smoking a pipe, the source of the acrid scent. Roque walked into the closet, grabbed a military-issued duffel and started stuffing clothes into it. The idiot on the bed was so out of it he never even noticed. Less than 5 minutes later, Roque had all of her clothes, and her toiletries in the duffel and handed them to her uncle.

"I'll meet you at the car, take this with you, I have to have a little chat with this piece of shit who's fucking our pet stripper." With that she turned around, went to the kitchen and filled a pot with ice cold water. Then she dumped it right on the pair on her bed.

"Rocket? What the – "

"You know what? You're not even worth me crying about. You made your bed, now lie in it, you and your stripper whore. Keep the apartment, keep everything. I'm outta here."

With a final kiss my ass, she picked up her backpack and left the apartment. Paul was leaning on the hood of the Charger, obviously wanting to ask questions.

"My now ex-boyfriend and the stripper we adopted off of the streets. I should have guessed they were fucking each other," she shook her head and climbed in the car.

Paul followed her directions to the gym that she worked out at and after a hard and really intense work out with his favorite ( and admittedly, only) niece, he took her to lunch at one of her favorite resturaunts ever.

"Olive Garden, Uncle Paul? You always know how to make a girl feel better."

After they were seated and eating their salads, Roque finally opened up.

"I met Damien the first day I got here. He was actually trying to rob me and I beat the shit out of the chick that was with him. Impressed him so much that he took me in. When Tanner, the other girl that was with us got popped for shoplifting and got sent to Juvie, we started to get closer, since it was just the two of us. But what I didn't know was that D was a Meth head. He'd get clean, and everything would be great for a couple of months, but then something would go wrong, and he'd fall off the wagon again. This last time, he'd been doing great for almost 6 months, but then, he lost his second job as a security guard because he failed his random drug test. We'd had a party for New Year's and he'd smoked a shit load of weed. I mean, I'm no hypocrite, I smoked that night too, but my jobs didn't test me. It's been slowly getting worse since then. And today, I find him naked with a friend that I let move in with us when she hit hard times. Always knew that Jess was a whore though, so I don't really know why I was surprised."

Paul just listened to the girl rant quietly. His decision was made. She was coming home with him to Connecticut. He could hang out with Steph, Rory, Murph, and Vaughn. His girls would be a great idea to relax her for a week before he took all 5 of them down to San Antonio for little Gracie's birthday. Buying her a plane ticket to go with him to LaGuardia was simple. The 40 minute ride back to Greenwich from there would be cake. After the girl had a portion of her favorite Tiramisu, they got back to his hotel. They had 2 hours to get to Pittsburgh International for their flight.

Roque knew she had no choice now; Her second most overprotective uncle (no one would ever surpass Mark) had seen her junkie boyfriend at his worst. He was gonna protect her from that whether she liked it or not. So she followed him through the airport, taking out her body jewelry to get through security and happily putting them back in once they cleared the metal detectors.

"What made you stick all the metal in your body?" he asked with a grin.

"Well, I always wanted the navel ring, I knew Daddy would never go for it, but deep inside, I always thought they were awesome. My lip ring was done on a whim. I'd been in for my 4th session for my angel wings, and Manny, my artist told me if I wanted something pierced, he would do it for free since I was spending so much money on my back tattoo. "

Paul'd seen all of her tattoos, and he marveled at how she'd covered her scars that she'd been so self conscious about with a large and beautiful piece of art that she couldn't get enough of showing off. At that very moment, she was combating the late June heat with a pair of denim shorts and a purple tank top. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun to keep it off of her neck. With a pair of Ray Bans over her eyes, she looked like some sort of rock star.

The plane ride took about an hour and a half, and two hours after that, the two of them were walking into her Uncle Paul's 6 bedroom, 4 bathroom brick house.

She was one step closer to being home.

* * *

**A/N: This is short, but I really REALLY want her return home to be it's own chapter. NEXT chapter, Roque/Rion gets her first taste of Texas Heat in 4 years. Some people are happy to see her, others...well, you'll see. I'll update at the minimum once a month on this fic, So you'll see more from this fic very soon, I'm writing Chapter 4 right now!**

**Nique**


	4. Reunitedbut does it feel good?

Rion Paige Hickenbottom was terrified. She was seated in the back seat right between Murphy and Rory; both of them preoccupied with the episode of Spongebob playing on the DVD of the Escalade. Little Vaughn was asleep in her car seat, snuggling a purple monkey.

The two Adults in the car were talking about business with the company, and weren't concerned with the anguished teen who was staring out of the window as very familiar sights flew past her. Lincoln High School, Jamison and Son's Boxing Club, the park she'd run in to train. The tree she'd been under when Q'd kissed her for the last time. Cammie's house.

Finally, they pulled up to the ranch style house that she'd spent the happiest hears of her life in. Dutifully helping to unload the fussy and squirming 2, 4, and 6 year olds, She stood aside awkwardly as everyone headed towards the front door.

"You ok, Kid?"

"Uncle Paul…I just – "

"Take all the time you need," he smiled at her, ruffling her hair and completely ruining her ponytail. She scowled at him, half-hartedly throwing a punch at him in retaliation. She used her fingers to scrape her hair back into a tight pony, and then took a deep breath.

She was scared he'd reject her because she'd stayed away for so long. With a heavy sigh, she gripped her duffel and walked to the open front door.

Everything looked the same. The walls were still an off white color, the floors were still wood in the halls. There were still pictures everywhere. Ri sighed and stuffed her bag in the hall closet before walking into the kitchen. No one was in there.

Except for her mom.

Becca Hickenbottom was filling a bowl with her homemade potato salad. When she heard footsteps behind her she immediately began spouting off orders.

"Cam, grab those burgers out of the deep freeze, your dad's about ready to put them on the –"

She froze when she turned around.

The girl standing in front of her was wearing a pair of knee length black shorts and a white sleeveless top with the American flag stamped on it. She had on black flip flops that showed off her black painted toenails, and the light caught on a silver hoop in her lip. Her hair was red and pulled off of her face, and showing no less than three silver studs in each ear.

But the red hair and piercings couldn't do anything to hide those cautious brown eyes, the fact that her right arm was clutching the left right at the elbow, and that her face was a perfect mask of blank.

She looked exactly the way that she did when she was 11 years old, and afraid to be rejected.

"Oh my dear Lord. Darlin? Is that you?"

"H-Hey, Ma." She smiled weakly, the lopsided grin never quite reaching her eyes. The bowl was placed on the counter and the woman immediately pulled her into a tight hug.

"My baby," she murmured in her ear. Ri's face was burred in the woman's neck and soon, there were two people crying in the kitchen.

It felt like she'd never left; her Ma's hand was stroking her hair, smoothing the ponytail down. When she finally pulled back they shared a smile.

"Look at how tall you've gotten! And your hair!" she exclaimed, the two of them still not quite letting go of each other.

"Ma, Dad wants me to bring those burgers out –"

A 14 year old Cameron Hickenbottom was standing in the doorway. His shaggy dirty blonde hair was a little darker than she remembered, and his brown eyes were wide, not quite believing what she was seeing.

"Cam!" Ri screamed running to the younger boy. He'd finally caught up with her in height like their parents always predicted. He squeezed her back as tight as he could. As much as he tried to deny it, He'd missed his big sister. She'd been his protector against bullies, and she'd taught him to stand up for himself.

"I knew you'd come back," he grinned widely. "I never had a doubt that you would come back."

"I missed you, little brother."

When they pulled back from each other, Cam wiped his eyes of a couple of stray tears, and grabbed her hand.

"Dad's gonna flip, come on!"

Before she could protest, Cam's surprisingly strong grip had her at the sliding door leading out to the backyard that was full of people there to celebrate Gracie's 2nd birthday. Ri vaguely recognized people from the church with their kids, and plenty of other toddlers were running around the back yard. Sitting at a picnic table off to her left she found Gracie's godfather towering over all of the other guests. His green eyes locked with hers, and he tapped a smaller dark haired woman sitting beside him.

Hugging her Uncle Mark was always the same. You wrapped your arms as far around his middle as you could, buried your face in his chest, and as soon as those huge arms were wrapped around you, locking you in place, you noticed his smell; he always smelled like leather, horses, and whiskey. After you noticed his smell, his deep voice would wash over you, and you felt like a little kid all over again. When Uncle Mark hugged you, everything was going to be okay.

"You look good, Darlin', a little too pierced for my tastes, but good." He smiled.

"I only have my ears, my lip and my navel. I'm hardly a walking hardware store." She teased.

"Has Mike seen you yet?" he asked as she hugged Sarah.

"No, I was on my way over there to him now. I just saw you first." Ri looked over to her right, seeing her father standing at the grill talking to a man who was holding a little dark haired girl with curly pigtails.

"Get on over there; we've missed you something terrible around here, Darlin." he added with a kiss to her temple.

"I know; I've missed you guys just as much."

She took a deep breath and walked over towards her father. He was wearing jeans and a white linen button up to combat the heat. One of his straw cowboy hats kept the sun out of his eyes.

"You better not burn those hot dogs, I hate when you do that." She said when she knew he was close enough to hear him.

He froze. He set down the pair of tongs he was using to move the hotdogs and Italian sausages around on the fire. Then, and only then did he turn around.

His girl, his baby was standing not 5 feet from him. Her hair was red, and she had a couple of piercings, but that was irrelevant. He hadn't seen her since she'd yelled out "I'm going to Qua's and then to the Gym! I've got my cell; love you!"

She had a small smile on her face, she looked a little unsure of herself, but nothing changed the fact that she was _there_.

"Oh my God, Darlin'," he smiled.

"Hi Daddy." She smiled back, her right arm latched on to the left right at the elbow; she always did that when she was unsure of herself.

"Get in these arms, you little punk."

With a wide grin, she dived into his arms. The hug felt the same, but different. She was more built in some places, softer in others, and now that he thought of it –

"You cut your hair!" he laughed in surprise.

He stroked her shorter hair before pulling her close to him again. His face was buried in her hair, and he could feel her hands fisted in his shirt. He never wanted to let go.

She was home.

Michael let out a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding as he thanked God for finally bringing his baby home.

The rest of the day was a huge blur. Roque could vaguely remember Gracie and her little friends playing adorable party games. She could clearly see the tiny blonde child blowing out the candles on the birthday cake covered in icing drawings of My Little Pony.

The most vivid memory however was her reuniting with one John Felix Anthony Cena.

He'd shown up with Andy and Baby McKenna about 45 minutes after she'd hugged her dad again. With his daughter in a car seat in one massive hand, and the other claimed by his wife, he honestly couldn't fathom his life being any closer to perfect than it was at that exact moment.

Until he saw an athletically built redhead sitting at the table with little Gracie bouncing on her knee. Sitting beside her, Cam had his acoustic on his lap, strumming lightly while singing to his little sister.

Her hair may have been different, but there was no mistaking that smile. It still lit up brighter than anything around her. His heart jumped a little when her chocolate browns locked onto his cerulean blues.

"Johnny," she smiled brightly as soon as she recognized him. She handed the toddler in her arms over to Cam before jumping up and walking over towards him.

"It's been a while, huh, Johnny?"

"Yeah," he didn't quite meet her eyes.

"How've you been?"

"Good."

"So, your mad at me then, huh? All these one word answers when usually I can't get you to shut up are a dead give away."

"What did you expect?" he snapped, glaring down at her.

"Basement. Now." She replied just as harshly. "We're gonna clear this shit up right now." She muttered already stepping through the screen door that led back into the kitchen.

"John," Andy started as she took the car seat from her husband.

"No, she's right, babe. We need to clear the air quick. She's got a lot of explaining to do, and not just to you."

"I'm just saying that you should calm down a little. She's been through a lot."

"She explained herself to you, Andy, but…as happy as I am to see her here in this back yard, I'm just as furious with her."

He walked away without a word and made his way down to the basement where who he once called his little sister was waiting perched on a low bench usually reserved for pressing.

"So." She said, looking up at him curiously.

"So what? You wanted to talk, so talk." He sat down on the second from the bottom of the basement stairs.

"Why are you so pissy at me? I mean, I expected _someone_ to be upset, but I never expected it to be you."

"Why not me? Who was the person you called when you got away?"

"It was you." She replied softly.

"And who listened to you crying, afraid that you'd killed someone in a fire that you started?"

"You did, Johnny."

"And who did you promise that you would keep in touch with someone, no matter that you didn't want us to come find you?"

"You."

"SO WHY DON'T I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE PISSED AT YOU?" he roared. "Ri, I…I was so scared. I thought you were dead at one point. We had no idea where you were…You know what McKenna's full name is?"

"Andy told me, McKenna Paige Christina Cena."

"I talked Andy into her first middle name. I…I wanted to have a part of you still here in case we never saw you again. I'm so frustrated because you promised me that you would keep in touch. And when you didn't, I was bummed, but I kinda understood."

"So then why are you so upset with me?" she asked him, trying her hardest to ignore the tears in his eyes.

"When Andy found you, she told me that she gave you everyone's number. That was 2 months ago. You called Mike, understandable, and Cam and your mom, and even Paul, I understood that. But in 2 months of having my cell phone number, not once did you call me or even send me a text to tell me that you were thinking about coming home. You didn't call to apologize for not keeping your promise, you didn't even call to just say 'Hey John, I'm fucking alive.' Would that have been too hard for you?"

"John, I'm-"

"Don't even think about apologizing now. I can see that I wasn't even important enough for you to get back in contact with once you had the ability. I'm okay with you keeping it that way." He said, glaring at her even harder.

"Wait so now you don't ever want to talk to me again because I didn't call you? WHAT? Have you ever considered that I was so freaked our about my immediate future that I didn't even consider calling you out of fear of this exact conversation? This isn't the WWE John, it's real fucking life, and in real life, the world doesn't revole the fuck around you! I've wanted to come home for months! In fact, I was there the night you got injured and tried to come home then!" she shouted, standing up from her spot on the opposite side of the room and crossing it in less than 10 long strides.

"You were-"

"Yeah, I was there. Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, PA. You were in the dark match at the end of the night in a tag match. You had Seamus up for an FU. I've watched you do that move probably a million times. I knew the exact moment it went wrong. I knew, John because I never stopped thinking about my big brother. I tried to sneak backstage to check on you. I got caught and thrown out of the building. I went to 3 hospitals to see if you were there, and I never found out because I wasn't family according to them. I wanted to come home in December, John. And it really sucks that you wanna throw away everything that we had because you felt left out. I was on my own for 3 years, and I had to grow up really fast. I was just hoping that…at least when you were around, I could try to be a kid who hero worshipped her big brother again."

"Shorty, I..I'm so sorry." The tears that Rion'd been trying to ignore in John's eyes finally fell…only 2 fell, but they were enough to erase any ire left in her system against him. She gave him a watery smile.

"You called me Shorty." She finally let her own tears fall and climbed into his arms hugging her big brother as tight as she could around his neck. "I'm sorry too, John. Are we good?"

John pulled back to look into his surrogate sister's eyes. "We were never bad, Kid."


	5. Things Fall Into Place

Michael Shawn Hickenbottom woke up to the sound of music coming from just outside his bedroom window. His window faced the back yard, which was fenced in ever since a certain incident involving a peeping Tom with a camera. Pulling a tee shirt on, he padded out of his room and down the hall to the kitchen.

The sliding door leading out to the deck was open.

He cautiously walked outside to find –

No one.

Until he turned around and looked up.

Perched up on top of the house with her cell phone playing music, his daughter was sitting quietly. She had on her same shorts and muscle shirt from the party. Her hair was down, and she was staring off into space.

A cigarette was dangling between two fingers on her right hand.

"When'd you pick up that habit?"

Rion finally noticed her father standing there and let out a wry, humorless laugh. "I picked up a lot of bad habits that you might not be a fan of."

"I'd imagine. Come on down from there, Darlin'," he gestured towards a picnic table just below her. Rion put out her cigarette, grabbed her phone from beside her and jumped down on to the top of the table before sitting down on the bench next to her dad.

"Did I wake you? I forgot how light of a sleeper you are."

"A little, but I'm more surprised that you're awake this late; you used to sleep for days if I'd let you, it's 4 am."

"I'm still awake actually, I'm used to going to bed around 5 or so; the bar I worked at didn't close down until 3 and I closed down the bar and cleaned everything up before I left. I'm usually leaving work around this time."

"A Bar? Darlin', I think you have a story to tell me."

"I worked at a really cool bar that catered to the fight scene. I was a bartender, and I was undefeated for a year in the cage. Donnie Lennox, the owner, had no clue I was 17…he thought I was 22, and that I was completely legal. He had no clue until my last day working there when Uncle Paul found me."

"That sounds like you had a lot of fun in Pittsburgh."

"Yeah, I did. I wish you could have seen my fights. I got really good, Daddy."

The two sat talking for hours, the sun crept up the horizon before father and daughter made their separate ways to bed.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Rion woke up around 11 and made her way into the kitchen still in her sleep clothes; a pair of sweat pants and a short sleeved tee.

"Morning," she mumbled around a yawn, scratching her scalp as she sat at the table.

"You almost missed morning," Cam laughed, already dressed for the day in a black tank top and a pair of cargos. Rion stuck her tongue out good-naturedly at her brother and got up to make a bowl of cereal.

"So what're we doing for the day?"

"I thought we'd go to Splash Town. It's Sunday, and the day after the holiday, so it shouldn't be too busy; Lines'll be short." Michael replied, walking into the kitchen already dressed for said park in a tee shirt and swim shorts.

"Splash Town? Awesome!" Cam grinned, jumping up to change.

"Yeah, sweet idea, Dad!"

"I thought so too," he smirked at his oldest two. Get showered and changed Darlin', and we'll be on our way.

Cereal abandoned, Rion went back into her room to change. Standing in her old bedroom was weird and wonderful all at the same time. Her desk still had all of her old bandanas, hair ties, and old pictures of everyone from Cammie and Qua to John, Shane Helms, her Uncles and parents. Her deep green bed spread on her full sized bed was the same, and it wasn't even dusty when she'd slept in it the night before. Apparently, her mom washed everything once a month, just in case.

She decided to forgo the black splatter painted bikini she usually favored and went instead with a one piece that she'd bought on a whim. The suit was a tie dye of blues and purples. The front looked like a normal one piece suit that went up behind her neck, but due to the cut of the suit, the back looked like a bikini. The sides came in enough to show off her side tattoo, and her angel wings were prominently on display; the main reason she loved this suit.

Pulling on a pair of denim shorts that showed most of her legs and a pair of silver flip flops followed. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun, put on her Ray Bans, and grabbed her drawstring bag. She stuffed a large fluffy towel inside along with sun screen, her cell, and headphones. After a quick pause, she also grabbed her old flip camera with the waterproof case.

When she made it back into the kitchen, everyone's jaws dropped.

"Wicked tats, Ri!" Cam was the first to speak.

She forgot that her clothes the day before covered all of her tattoos. Her side piece and the one on her thigh were finally visable to her family. Playing cool, she replied to her brother's praise.

"Thanks, Cam. That's not even my coolest one though." She turned around to show off her back.

"Beautiful work, Darlin'," she heard her father speak finally walking closer to examine the wings.

"You're not mad?" she asked, looking back and up at her father.

"You've already got them. It's not like I can make you take them off," he shrugged with a laugh. "Besides, I'm not exactly tattoo-free."

The family loaded them selves in the car, Rion with her camera rolling every once in a while, urging her family to twist up their faces and wave hello.

The park was amazing. Dispite the heat, (a sweltering 102) there were very few people at the park since it was the day _after_ a major holiday, as well as a Sunday. With her camera safely in the case, Rion and Cam took to every slide in the park; speed, tube or otherwise. Their father usually not too far behind them.

While Rion was lying on her towel, her father and brother on either side, (her mom was with little gracie at the kiddie section of the park) a shadow fell over her, blocking the sun.

"Um, excuse me, are you Roque Harris?" a young man asked her as she sat up to see who was killing her tanning.

"Who's asking?" she replied slowly.

"I'm a huge fan, I've seen all of your videos. I watch you all the time." He gushed finally.

A huge smile came to the girl's face. "Really? That's so cool. I'm glad you like them; I work really hard."

"I mean, all of my friends watch you too; we look forward to your videos every month. You're amazing."

Ri blushed a little. "That's really cool, I appreaciate that a lot."

"Will you take a picture with me?"

"Hell yeah, I will," she allowed the guy to put his arm around her waist, and Cam snapped the picture for them. He smiled at her one more time before leaving them alone.

"What was that about? You have videos on the internet?" her day asked, a confused smile on his face.

"Yeah, I'll show you them when we get home."

Her dad left the situation alone for the moment. Th e family enjoyed the rest of the day together before going home tired and happy.

Once they were home, Rion grasped both her father and her brother's hands and dragged them into her room, pulling upi Youtube on her computer.

"I'm a Youtube Celebrity….sort of. I'm no Dan Howell, or Jenna Marbles, but I have a little following that watch my videos. I usually poist twice a month; one video that shows my training and talking about my last fight and my next one, and usually the other video is my fight its self. People think I'm cool." She pulled her page up andclicked on her last video; her fight against Ashley Tate. The men in her life watched her fight with proud smiles, cheering her on as they watched her kick ass.

"Well, I can see why you have fans, Darlin'. You're electric in the cage."

"Yeah. I thought you'd like it…besides, if people tell me they watch my videos on the internet, I don't want you thinking I was doing something gross…or anything that I wouldn't want you seeing. I want you to always be proud of me, Daddy."

He smiled down on her, promising that he always was, and left the siblings in the room together.

"Wanna help me do my latest video?" she asked Cam with a grin.

"Only hell yeah." He laughed. "Do you get to beat me up or something?"

"No, just hold the camera for me?"

"Okay, okay…spoilsport." He muttered. "It's rolling."

"Hey everybody in the computer! It's your girl Rocket. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up about what's going on in my life right now. I've decided to take a little hiatus from fighting. I'm not injured or anything, but my life has taken an unexpected turn, and I think I'm gonna just spend time with my family for a while. I probably won't have a fight scheduled for another 5 or 6 months, but I'm still gonna be active on the page and on facebook and twitter. I love hearing from you guys. I'll be spending a lot of time in the San Antonio area; maybe some time in Houston, and possibly in Florida, so if you live in those areas, do be surprised to see me in the near future. I've been spending the day with my parents and little brother and sister, and it's just been a great day. So I'll see you guys in a couple of weeks with a training video. Later! Alright Cam, you can cut it off now," she finished.

"You gonna go train tomorrow?"

"Maybe, nothing serious, just stuff to keep in shape, why?"

"I kinda wanted to tag along, I always wanted to learn how to fight..properly I mean. I may have gotten into a couple of fights in middle school, but…" he took a deep breath. "every one in this family can fight. You, Dad, Uncle Mark, Andy, and even John when he's on two good feet."

"I'll teach you a couple of moves, but nothing too damaging; Ma'll kill me." She smirked. "She doesn't want her _precious baby boy_ doing anything violent." She teased.

"Get bent," Cam laughed giving her a hard shove. She responded with a laugh, grabbing his extended right arm to pull him close and getting him into a full nelson before he could blink.

"Rule one; no sneak attacks on your teacher, young Padawan."

"Yes, Master," he kowtowed mockingly. She released him and he left her room laughing. "See you in the morning, Ri."

"You too, kid. Love you, Camaroo."

He smiled brightly at the old nickname.

"Love you too, Ri-bear."

For the first time since she was 14, Rion Paige Hickenbottom fell asleep knowing that she was right where she was supposed to be, right when she was supposed to be there.

She was finally home.

**A/N: SO sorry about the wait on this update. I have real life kicking my butt right now. I'm working on the next chapter, and the update for my Harry Potter fic for anyone who's interested there. ALSO, I want you guys to give me some help. Any Ideas that I use will be given full credit, but I'd like to know what songs you like to listen to while working out. Give me a few titles in your review (hint, hint) and if I use yours, you're bound to get a shout out in the next chapter!**

**NIque**


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